Man Nesting ***Guest Blogger***

So today was the due day for our baby to be born. After the castor oil experiment and the thought of our impending house guest (albeit 18+ year house guest) there is an anxious feeling in the air around me. I cant seem to get past the feeling that we have someone coming to visit us, someone important, and we don’t know when they are coming over.

Ive heard that the way that men deal with stress is that they tend to clean and organize their “man area”. I know that many times before a big week or before a big work project I would find myself unnecessarily cleaning and reorganizing my desk at work cleaning every bit of dust down to the wood grain. It appears this anxiety around our new arrival is no different.

Lucy and I were told by the midwife teaching our pre-natal class that just before a woman goes into labor she tends to “nest”. On an animalistic level that makes a lot of sense to me, after all animals want to build the best type of nest possible so that their young can be safe and sound from outside prey and elements. But what about the man? I’ve heard stories about men getting morning sickness and putting on “baby weight”. This got me thinking that if men can feel all of those reactions similar to what a women who is actually carrying baby feels, then a man can certainly feel the pressure to nest . I think that this explains my recent behavior. I more often than ever have been finding myself:

Making sure that the yard is tidy

Making sure the cupboards are stocked with lot of food I can cook

Making sure that there is plenty of fire wood for the next six+ weeks and

So is this similar to the type of nesting that a woman does except from man’s caveman-like brain? If a women cleans the house and creates a comfortable bedroom and living room area, then a man likely nests in, well, a mans way. It does feel like a bit more than preparation for an impending house guest. It feels more like I am preparing a nest so that my young can be safe from prey and the outside elements. Here is a look at what Ive been up to lately. You tell me if this is man-nesting.